thor

I'm not excited for Sam Wilson as Captain America, and I'm not excited for a female Thor. Now, I don't think these are totally wrongheaded things to do. I admire the impulse behind these changes, and I believe they come from a good place. In the abstract sense, I love the idea of Marvel featuring, in big, bold style, the adventures of a black man and a woman against the hordes of iniquity. I believe at least part of the motivation behind these changes is genuine in its altruism, and that it is not entirely invalidated by profit-seeking impulses. I want to believe in this initiative. I want to be excited. I do not want to be the curmudgeon in the corner, needlessly nitpicking everyone else's good time to pieces. But it feels like a gimmick, and functions like a gimmick, and that’s because it is a gimmick. I give it perhaps two years — two years that only the most hard-core aficionados will end up able to recall, alongside their recollections of the foil covers era and that one time Doc Ock was Spider-Man.

If you're a fan of the King of Sports, professional wrestling, then you may have wondered what CM Punk has been up to since he left the WWE the day after last January's Royal Rumble. Punk, occasionally known outside the ring as Phil Brooks, has been quiet about his plans for the future, but this week it was announced that he'll be writing a story for February's Thor Annual #1, with art by Chew's Rob Guillory, who will also be making his debut at Marvel.

A great comic book cover is an advertisement, a work of art, a statement, and an invitation. A great comic book cover is a glimpse of another world through a canvas no bigger than a window pane. In Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month), we look back over some of the most eye-catching, original and exceptional covers of the past month. September's covers include masterclass composition from Genndy Tarkakovsky and Noelle Stevenson, some beautiful uses of light, color, and contrast, and some very different portraits of gods, old and new.

The great thing about Fox News is that it's only Tuesday and you're already about to see the dumbest thing you'll see all week. In this case, it's a clip from Fox's weekend morning show, where three people with the collective brains of a sack of doorknobs turn their reasoned and well-thought out opinions to the world of comic books. Specifically taking on Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman's upcoming run on Thor, where the iconic Marvel hero will get a new identity as a woman, and complaining about Wonder Woman's costume in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice film by comparing it to Jim Lee's redesign from four years ago that, according to them, appears to be a product of what they characterize as fundamentalist Sharia Law. No, really, this dope on the left actually says that.

We've seen college course offerings focus on the 'Harry Potter' universe, comic books, and even one specifically for 'The Walking Dead,' but now it's Marvel's turn to educate younglings about the intricacies of their Cinematic Universe.

How well do you think you know Marvel's 'The Avengers'? Did you catch the earlier appearance of that shawarma joint before the team had a celebratory chow down? Did you know the movie was initially three hours and 10 minutes? Well, we cover that and more in ScreenCrush's latest edition of 'You Think You Know Movies?'

Guardians Of The Galaxy just enjoyed a very successful weekend at movie theaters, taking home around $94m, far in excess of expectations. The movie also stands at 92% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, joining all previous Marvel Studios movies in receiving predominantly favorable notices. Marvel Studios is doing very well. In six years and ten movies, it has avoided both critical and commercial disasters, and frustrated naysayers who hailed the demise of the superhero movie at every step. Marvel's rivals at Fox, Sony Columbia, and Warner Bros, have enjoyed commercial success as well -- but not with the acclaim, consistency, or proliferation of Marvel. So how does Marvel do it, and can they keep doing it?

Part of the fun of watching a Marvel movie is looking out for all those Easter eggs strewn throughout, and you can be sure 'Guardians of the Galaxy' has a handful, as well. But in case you missed any of them, from the first 'Iron Man' movie all the way up to 'Thor: The Dark World,' MTV compiled a handy video running down all of them, explaining their significance.

To the delight of the Comic-Con 2014 attendees, Marvel spent a great deal of time toting around its 'Avengers 2' and 'Ant-Man' casts, but refrained from giving us many updates on the future film slate. They did officially announce 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' for 2017, but what about 'Thor 3'? We caught up with the Asgardian himself, Chris Hemsworth, on the Marvel press line following the panel to get an update.

Marvel is committing fully to Angela with the character's first ongoing series, Angela: Asgard's Assassin, which comes with yet more surprises. It's a solo title starring a female lead, which of course is still rare in American superhero comics, and it's also drawn by Phil Jimenez, whose long association with certain amazon princesses and other distinctly powerful women characters sends a very loud and clear message about Marvel's intentions for Angela. Joining Jimenez is writer Kieron Gillen, himself one of Marvle's most acclaimed Asgardian scholars, if you will, having done very well regarded runs on Journey Into Mystery and Thor. Also writing Angela is Marguerite Bennett, who's penned numerous books for DC and other publishers, but who this year landed two ongoings in the form of Angela and the recently announced Sleepy Hollow. As part of the book's unique "stories-within-stories" structure that you'll read about below, Bennett will collaborate with noted cover artist and illustrator Stephanie Hans, who's making a relatively rare visit to the realm of sequential storytelling to help make Angela that much more distinct. ComicsAlliance spoke with all four creators and series editor Wil Moss about the endlessly impressive surprise that is Angela.

On Tuesday morning Whoopi Goldberg and the hosts of The View announced that Marvel will relaunch Thor this October with a 'worthy' woman brandishing the hammer. Marvel followed that announcement with two more high profile switcheroos on Wednesday night as Entertainment Weekly revealed a new-ish and possibly superior Iron Man, and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada joined comedian Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report to announce that a new guy will take up Captain America's shield. That in itself isn't much of a surprise -- original Cap Steve Rogers has passed on his mantle a few times, before eventually yanking it back. After spending some time in Dimension Z and fighting the Iron Nail and whatnot, he's now too old to Avenge from the front lines. The big reveal is that the new Captain America will be Sam Wilson, the African-American superhero currently known as Falcon.

Marvel chose daytime talk show The View as the venue to reveal its latest female-led solo title; a new Thor ongoing series from current Thor writer Jason Aaron and current Cyclops artist Russell Dauterman. If you're wondering how Thor can be a female-led solo title, well, grab a seat chum. Thor is a lady now. This is not the first time a son of Odin has become the old man's daughter, but when Loki spent time as a woman it was because he stole the body of the warrior Sif, and as a shapeshifting trickster he can probably do it whenever he wants. Not so Thor; Marvel says that this is "a brand new female hero" rather than the old Thor after a magical (or even non-magical) transformation.